


Complex

by Tangledfire



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, Crucifixion, Cuddling, Dark Character, F/M, Fluff, God Complex, Kissing, Mental Health Issues, One Shot, Poetry, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Strip, The Tops, Unhealthy Relationships, What Have I Done, i wrote this in a day, no beta we die like men, the legion - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 07:19:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17116919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangledfire/pseuds/Tangledfire
Summary: Vuples meets Andy a courier with a strange reputation and even stranger personality. Between the nick name "Mad God" and her bouts of poetry he is fascinated. Slowly he falls for her. Will he assist her and her mad plans and Betty the Legion for her?Now with artwork!





	Complex

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this in one day. Let me know if there are any mistakes!  
> Also I only just started playing Fallout New Vegas, met Vulpes, thought he had a cool voice then BAM ship.  
> I know about some of the quests like taking over the strip but I've never played it so I just made things up.

The first time they meet is in Nipton. The stench of burning bodies filled the air, and the cries of the guilty nailed to cross rang across the main street. He had felt a wonderful pleasure at the destruction he had wrought, it was all justified and beautiful.

Through the smoke she emerged.

She was a courier, looking a little worse for wear, her leather armor was ragged and stained, her black despacito hat covered in dust. Under the hat her brass hair shone bright in the sun. A flame among the flames. As she took in the destruction of the city she didn’t look particularly disgusted or frightened. She mostly looked concerned, and curious. At one point she stopped in front of a suited man tied to one of the crosses and he swore he sees her mouth “creative” before moving on.

She stepped up to the town hall her face meet his. She had freckles, they dotted across her round cheeks, and her full lips were pulled in a frown. She looked right at him, he could tell, despite the dark avatars that shielded her eyes. He decided he wanted to let her live and he approached her.

“Don’t worry, I won't have you lashed to a cross like the rest of these degenerates.” She raised her eyebrows at him and frowned but said nothing. He continued. “It’s useful that you happened by,”

“Lucky me,” She gave a little smirk.

He ignored the cocky attitude and continued on, “I want you to witness the fate of Niton, to memorize every detail. And then when you move on? I want you to teach everyone you meet the lesson that Caesar's Legion taught here, especially any NCR troops you run across.”

With another smirk, she looked around at the remains of the town. “You want me to tell them you burned Nipton down? Or do you want me to crucify them?” She turned back to him. “The second option is harder, there isn’t much wood out in the Mojave,” She smiled. His eyes were drawn to her lips. “I’ll do what you ask, but tell me why?”

He began a speech about the depravity of the town and its inhabitants, they deserved what they got. He would do it again and will do it again in the other towns of degenerates that spread across the waste.

When he was done, she spoke up again. “One last thing, then I’ll be on my way. Who are you?”

“I am Vulpes Inculta, of Caesar's Legion. I serve my master as the greatest of his Frumentarii,”

She smiled and stuck out her hand. “I’m Andy, it is a pleasure to meet you,”

Vulpes stared at her hand for a moment then took it and gave a single firm shake. There was no flash of electricity or great revelation when their hands touched only her cold small hand in his, and the feeling of skin brushing skin.

He dropped Andy’s hand and she walked back the way she came.

He figured he would never see her again.

 

On the radio Cesar and his greatest hear tales of a courier running too and fro across the Mojave helping and hindering in equal measure. The occupants of the Mojave start calling him “Mad God” on account of him never dying despite his mad adventures. The his real name is Andrew Bjornson, and Caesar wants him for the Legion.

Vulpes being the head of the Frumentarii, and therefore the best, is sent on a mission to find the courier and convert him to their cause.

He follows the trail all the way to the Strip. It takes him longer the he would have thought to get into the Strip, he needed a pass which he had to buy, even despite his well to do disguise. He’s glad he came with a considerable amount of caps.

After getting through the intimidating, even by his standards, gate of the Strip, he can feel himself getting close. Soon the “Mad God” will be a part of the glorious Legion. First Vulpes needs to find him.

First he starts with one of the Securitrons.

The great silver machine is taller than him and stands on its one wheel, it appears to just be observing the Strip and the mass number of humans coming and going from each of the casinos, bars and strip clubs. Rather then the grumpy policeman face most of the other bots have this one has a cheerful smile. He doesn't much question it.

“Excuse me,”

The bot turns to him and in the most disgustingly cheerful voice it shouts. “Hello! What can I do for you?”

He tries not to cringe at the volume. “I am looking for Andrew Bjornson, he’s a courier,”

The bot almost seems to perk up at the name. “Oh yes! I know them, we are good friends! They are at The Tops right now, at the bar!”

Without a thank you Vulpes heads toward the bright flashing lights of The Tops casino. Dodging the groups of people both standing and walking around the Strip is annoying, the sounds and lights give him a headache even in the day, and the idea of these people indulging in their habits disgusts him. One day Ceaser will own New Vagas and these people will all be slaves.

When some whores call out to him, he looks straight at the ground and bulls his way through the rest of crowds.

Crashing through the doors of the casino is a relief for him. It is much quieter inside. And much darker.

A glance around reveals a dingy interior, mostly done up in browns, reds and burnt orange. A few patrons sit at the card tables and slot machines.

Vulpes begins looking for the bar for any indication of a man who might be the Mad God.

The bar is just as dingy as the rest of The Tops, a few of the Omerta’s men sit on the worn out stools, the bartender talking to them softly as they sip their drinks.

There is only one other person at the bar, a woman. His eyes move right over her before something about her face pulls him back. Her hair looks more copper under the dim bar lights, and her old leather has been replaced with a long black coat, but the same black hat sits on the counter.

Vulpes never thought he would see her again, she isn’t who he was looking for, of that he is sure. He does remember she is a courier, perhaps she could bring  
Vuples to the man he is looking for.

He moves into the seat next to her and asks for only water from the bartender.

“Never thought I’d see you again,” Vulpes glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

With a jolt she looks up from her glass of whisky, her eyes are wide with surprise; her eyes are blue.

“You!” She then realizes how loud she just was and clams down. “Sorry, I just never expected, you! Here! How did you get here? Why are you here?”

He looks around the bar to make sure the Omerta’s men are not listening in before replying. “I am looking for someone, a courier, Andrew Bjornson,”

She laughs, the situation seems a lot funnier to her then to him. It takes a while for her to stop. When she does he wishes she didn’t. “Vuples…” She places her hand on his bicep. “You have found Andrew,”

He must look confused because she laughs again. “I am Andrew Bjornson, Andy, The Mad God, the courier, the one the radios won’t stop going on about,”

Andy waits for Vuples response, it takes him a moment.

“I didn’t realize, Andrew is a mans name, and the radio calls you a he,”

“Yeah,” She takes a sip of her drink. “I find it annoying, being mistaken for a man...  _Disappointed now I am, But with faith and hope, I will eventually survive, And see a brighter light…_ ”

Vulples does not understand the words coming out of her mouth. Andy, thankfully, understands his confusion. “That’s part of a poem, though the original poem was more about mistaking someone for your lover, but I suppose it still holds true,” She swirls her whiskey, pointlessly. “Some people seem disappointed when they meet the real me, how could a tiny five foot two, one hundred and ten pound bit of nothing be a “god?” She snorts then glances at him. “Why were you looking for me?”

“The eyes of the mighty Caesar are upon you. He admires your accomplishments, and invites you to to his camp and for you to swear your loyalty to him,”

The amusement on Andy’s face is clear, the orange light of the bar almost dances in her eyes. “Well… Caesar certainly makes an…” She pauses and looks him up and down, “attractive offer, however, I am not a big fan of being someone's slave. After all the legion doesn't accept women,”

Vulpes feels jittery at her complement but even more jittery at the thought of her refusing his offer. Now he knows Andy is the legendary courier he is even more invested in her joining the legion. He has the idiotic thought that her joining means he would see her often.

“I am sure your gender will make litter difference to my Lord,” his words come out more rushed then he meant. He knows she can hear some desperation in his voice.

“All that matters is your accomplishments. You are a skilled warrior, and have many reputations through out the wastelands.”

She snorts. “Sometimes I help and sometimes I hinder. I have been trying to do good, I helped Goodsprings but that made the Powder Gangers hate me. I got the caravans moving but I also gave Prim a sheriff that takes the law in his own hands... _I think that I already know, We reap whatever we did sow_ ,” More poetry. “I am sorry Vulpes,” her smile to him is a sad and lonely thing. “I am not going to take a side other then my side. You will have to return to your Caesar without me,”

Everything inside him falls. All this way for nothing. He had been forming an image in his head of the two of them fighting side by side against the NCR, her hair and guns flashing in the sun. Her high laughter at another death of their enemy, blood streaked across her face and through her hair. She would be a symbol of death, a true Mad God.

The image is gone. He stands, neutral faced, ready to begin his journey back to the camp, but something catches the sleeve of his suit.

Her blue eyes are looking at him pleadingly. “Stay for a while, you’ve come a long way and I’m sure Caesar will not miss you for an hour or two more.”

He cannot resist those eyes and sits back down with a thump. The smile on her sweet face is worth the guilt he feels at staying with her longer.

Andy jovially signals to the bar tender for more whisky, and offers him some which he declines. She takes a long drink then turns to him. “Tell me about yourself, I want to know everything,”

 

The day passes quickly, it is filled with Andy’s laughter, chatter, and numerous poetry quotes. Andy becomes tipsy.

Vulpes is no longer sure how long he has even been in The Tops, he has not touched a single drop of alcohol but something about her is making him feel drunk, he just wants to be around her.

The bar has grown busier as the sun has set outside, someone has opened the doors to the pool area and a swing band is playing.

She drags him out by the hand to dance. He is utterly confused about what to do but instead of getting mad she seems to find it charming and places his hands in the correct positions, one on her waist, the other in her hand. Her hand goes on his shoulder. She gently rocks to the music, maybe a bit too slow, for his benefit.

“I am glad to see you again.” She looks up at him through her eyelashes.

“I did not think you would recognize me without the wolves head.” He has a hat on as part of his disguise, its cooler then his wolf head, but he is sure the back of his neck has been sunburned.

Andy’s eyes close, she looks content and her hand holding his slips away. Rather then pulling away as he expected, she moves it to his other shoulder pulling them closer. “It was your voice, I would know it anywhere. I can’t quite describe it. You always sound threatening, some sort of growling animal, one that stalks its prey, plans carefully and knows everything…” Her eyes open and look into his own lighter blue ones. “Does that make sense?”

“I suppose.” It doesn’t really.

“ _Surely, whoever speaks to me in the right voice, him or her I shall Follow, As the water follows the moon, silently, with fluid steps, anywhere around the globe._ ”

Rather then be confused by her quote he lets it wash over him. Would she follow him? She would not follow the Legion. But maybe just him. That doesn’t seem right though, it would be him following her from all he has seen of her personality. He doesn't mind the thought of being her follower. The idea frightens him, would he leave the Legion for someone he hardly knows? If Caesar could see his thoughts he would be dead.

 

The moon is high in the sky when Vulpes and Andy leave the Tops. He doesn’t know where she is leading him only that she is even more tipsy and that she pulls him through the gate and into Freeside.

“I have an apartment here! Not the greatest but. Yeah. Somewhere to crash.”

To sleep is what he guesses she means. He reasons that it’s too late to start his journey back, staying the rest of the night won’t hurt. Before he can agree he is suddenly pulled into a dirty alleyway and his back pressed up against the concrete wall. His senses go on high alert and his whole body stiffens. But then Andy simply leans her forehead on his chest and mumbles. “Sorry, drank too much need to stop for a sec.”

The two stand in silence for a moment.

She suddenly speaks, “My plan to keep you for longer worked…” She pulls her forehead away from his chest but then just replaces it with both of her hands, she uses him to lean up and look in his eyes. Her hands are cold, he feels them starkly through his suit. “I thought… thought you were interesting at that town… The one you burned.”

“Nipton,” He supplies helpfully.

“Yeah,” Andy grins. “What a site! I thought I would never see you again. Luck must be with me, cause in you walk looking all refined and sharp. It’s a good look…though I don’t like the hat.” One of her fingers taps his chest. They are distracting him from her words. He doesn't think anyone has ever touched him as much as she has in the last few hours. “The legion uniform was good too,” She nods decisively. “Red is your color.” She puts her forehead back to his chest and they both stand in silence for a while longer.

“What if?... What if you joined me? I have some vague plans forming, we could do them together.” She doesn’t lift her head but seems fidgety.

Vulpes looks up at the moon. “The legion is all I have, and I am loyal to Caesar, I cannot do that.”

Her head lifts and he looks down at her, she has the same pleading expression as she did at the bar. “ _Don't leave me for a second, my dearest, because in that moment you'll have gone so far I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking, Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?_ ”

His face is stern. “I am not “your dearest”.”

“You could be,” She lifts herself on her toes, they are almost looking each other in the eye. “ _He would not stay for me, and who can wonder? He would not stay for me to stand and gaze.I shook his hand, and tore my heart in sunder, And went with half my life about my ways._ ”

“Andy.” It is the first time he has said her name. It is all he can say as her stormy eyes gaze so intently into his.

Ever so gently she leans forward. His heart pounds. He can feel her breath ghosting across his lips.

“I could keep you safe from the Legion and the NCR, I could fight the whole world blindfolded and one handed, we could rule the Mojave like gods.” It sounds like madness. It sounds beautiful. There isn’t even a centimeter of space between them. “ _And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me, and be my love._ ”

He gives in and connects his lips with hers. There are no fireworks, no applause of a crowd, but he has never felt more alive. There is a buzzing through his body it makes him shake with happiness. The first true smile in a long time stretches across his lips. He pulls back for a moment and takes her face in his hands. He sees the same happiness reflected there. For tonight he is going to forget that he is Vulpes Inculta, of Caesar's Legion, for once in his life he is just going to be happy. He pulls her in and kisses her again.

 

It takes longer than it should to reach Andy’s small apartment. It’s hard for Vuples to stop kissing and touching Andy now that he knows he is allowed to, and is allowing himself.

Once the door is closed he is looking around the apartment, it is more of a room with a single bed in a corner, a couch, and tables filled with weapons and drawings. The reality of their situation sinks in. He has never done any of this before. He knows of other members of the Legion who have, they tell tales of their “conquests” and many of them take particular joy in forcing the slave girls into being with them. The idea of all of it is both confusing and terrifying to him.

Andy moves father into her apartment then stops and comes back to him. She touches his face gently. Her eyes questioning.

“I…I have never… I do not want...”

Her face softens in understanding. “Then we won’t, easy as that,” She smiles, it is the kindest and most understanding smile he has ever been given. “I don’t really want to ether. I just want you, here, near me,” She pulls his face down to her and kisses his forehead.

“Let’s go to sleep,”

He nods relieved and lets her lead him to the bed. She gently removes his hat, coat and tie, setting them gently on one of the tables then pushes him so he's sitting on the edge of the bed.

She places her own hat and jacket next to his. She also removes her boots, and belt that held her two magnum revolvers at her sides.

He removes his own shoes and lays down on the bed stiffly.

Andy turns off the lights and joins him. Despite his obvious nervousness she moves in close and places her head on his shoulder. Her hand draws patterns across his chest, over his stiff white shirt. Slowly he relaxes. Lights from the strip brighten the room just enough that he can see her face. He kisses her again and she kisses back with a sound of content, then she pulls the one old blanket at the end of the bed over them.

“Good night, Vulpes,”

 

He wakes before Andy. Based on the light coming through the window it is much later then he would like. Andy is curled up next to him her head on his chest, her mouth open slightly, hair messed from a night of sharing a bed. Looking at her he is filled with an overwhelming longing, he wants to hold her tight and go back to sleep. They would wake up later, kiss, laugh, get ready for the day and then just leave. They would wander wherever their feet took them. Maybe they would get far out of the Mojave, away from the Legion and the NCR. _Come live with me and be my love_.

Careful not to wake her he slides her head onto the mattress and gets up. Silently he gets dressed. When his disguise is back on he can’t help but reach down, pull some brass strands of hair away from her face then pull the blanket up and over her shoulder.

Vulpes leaves without looking back.

 

It has been a few months since Vuples’s quest to the Strip. Because of his failure to convert the courier to their side Caesar punishes him with heading the patrols that monitor the land around the Legion’s main camp. In his time of punishment he hears of exploits of the Mad God. She, the radio still calls her a he, had helped the people of Novac get rid of a ghoul problem by helping the ghouls launch themselves into space, and in the same few months she had terrorized the Great Khans by attempting to murder every single one of them. Vulpes smiled at every bit of news he heard. Such a contradiction his courier, she doses out both help and destruction in equal measure.

He is heading a patrol and just cresting over the top of a small hill when he spots two figures out in the orange desert. One appears to be a human and the other looks to be a securitron. He pulls out his binoculars and points them on the two small figures.

One of his men pulls out a sniper rifle and aims. “Sir, should I take them out?”

He lifts a hand to tell his men to hold. “No, I know this one, she is an… ally. Remain here I will go speak to her and see why she has wandered so close to our border.”

He swiftly makes his way down the hill to the odd pair. He knows when they spot him because the securitron, the same smiling face one from the Strip, points its’ lasers at him and Andy pulls out one of her guns and aims it at him. “Stop right there Legionnaire! I will shoot!”

He holds his hands up to show her he had not drawn any weapon. “I mean you no harm.”

At his voice she lowers the gun and he steps toward her. The last few feet she runs to him and throws her arms around him. Vuples is struck by surprise and does not have the chance to decide to hug her back or not before she pulls away and lands a hard slap across his left cheek. He stands still in shock his head looking down at the sand from the force of her hit.

“You asshole! You left!” He can feel her pure anger radiating out of her small frame.

When he looks at her he wonders if this is what others see right before their death at her hands. Very muscle in her body is pulled taught ready to spring, her eyes are cold, and empty. He has never felt so much shame, not even when he was a young legionnaire and would get lashed for every small mistake he ever made.

He composes himself and looks at her just as coldly. “I had to, I have a duty to the great Caesar.”

She scowls. “I trusted you, I let you in, I fell in love with you and offer you anything you could ever want and you just fucked off to serve undersome power hungry old man!”

The blatant insult of the great leader pisses him off. Without even thinking he draws his machete and holds it to her throat; his other hand is caught in her black coat, keeping her near. “Don’t you dare insult the great Caesar!”

Wholly unexpectedly she laughs. It is not the nice happy laugh from the Strip, this is nothing but bitter. “You can’t kill me Vuples,”

“Why? Are you going to say it is because I love you or some other sentimental shit such as that?” He hisses.

Andy leans into the blade letting a small drip of blood trail down her pale neck. “No, it’s because I am a god remember? Why do you think I keep putting myself in insane situations? I didn’t die from a bullet straight to the head and nothing else has worked ether.”

His grip loosens, and the blade falls a bit from her neck. “You are trying to die.”

“I need to prove to myself that I can, but I’m beginning to think maybe I really am a god, and I think you are too.” Her face is haughty. There is madness in her eyes, and he knows she is right. He cannot kill her.

Instead he growls, yanks her closer and presses his mouth into hers. Her black hat falls into the sand but nether notices. She laughs into the kiss, the happy laugh again mixed with mania. He bites her lip enough to bleed then pushes her back.

Grinning, she wipes the blood off her chin.

“You are close to the Legion's camp, do not come here ever again or you will be killed,” he turns and walks away.

“Hey!” He pauses and turns his head back to her with a scowl. “My offer still stands.”

“What offer?”

Andy’s expression is soft and he wishes he could see her eyes under her black sunglasses. “ _Come live with me…_ ”

He tries to stop it but the rest of the words slam into the forefront of his mind. _And be my love_.

He jerks away and walks swiftly back to his men, every step away feels like sinking into quicksand.

When he reaches his men they are all smirking.

“Ally? Really?” The one with the sniper rifle has a shit eating grin. “Looked more like a lovers fight to me.” The four men all laugh. “Did you get a little tale on your trip to the Strip? Then leave her high and dry?” They all chuckle.

His face is as red as the sand and he grits his teeth. “You will be all be punished when we return to camp, forty lashes each!”

The patrol quiets immediately.

 

Each night Vulpes lays awake in his small cot thinking of Andy. She takes up his every thought. No matter how hard he tries to concentrate on his duties she has seeped into every corner of his mind. He wonders what she may be doing while he’s training the other Frumentarii, he is supposed to be in charge but is daydreaming instead. His men do not seem notice, either that or they are too afraid of him to mention it.

At the strategy meetings in Caesar's tent he’s thinking about her laugh, wondering what she would say to the aged leader of the Legion. Vuples thinks she would tell him to go fuck himself. Many of the men in the Legion see Caesar as almost a god. Where he used to see a grand holy leader, he can only see a sad old man dying of disease.

Some Days he thinks of seeing her again, of apologizing for leaving, though apologizing isn't really in his nature. He would make up for it.

On a mission to one of the nearby settlements he actually manages to find a book of poetry. The cover is gone and some of the pages are missing. He does not know who the author was and does not recognize any of the poems inside. In the few moments he is alone in his tent he reads them. Many do not make much sense to him. There is one that strikes a cord.

anyone lived in a pretty how town  
(with up so floating many bells down)  
spring summer autumn winter  
he sang his didn’t he danced his did.

Women and men(both little and small)  
cared for anyone not at all  
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same  
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few  
and down they forgot as up they grew  
autumn winter spring summer)  
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf  
she laughed his joy she cried his grief  
bird by snow and stir by still  
anyone’s any was all to her

someones married their everyones  
laughed their cryings and did their dance  
(sleep wake hope and then)they  
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon  
(and only the snow can begin to explain  
how children are apt to forget to remember  
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess  
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)  
busy folk buried them side by side  
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep  
and more by more they dream their sleep  
noone and anyone earth by april  
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)  
summer autumn winter spring  
reaped their sowing and went their came  
sun moon stars rain

Part of it makes no sense to him but he knows its about two people in love. It sounds like madness, and it sounds like her.

At night he dreams of her walking through the camp; she is dressed in white and covered in the blood of his men, it drips from her fiery hair and runs in streams down her face. Hundreds of men, crucified rise behind her, everything burning at their feet. She walks barefoot and ethereal toward him. When she is close enough she touches his face smearing the warm blood across his cheeks. They kiss as the world burns and he always awakens with a gasp.

 

During one of the meetings with Caesar and the other leaders he is brought out of his musings when he hears her name.

He sits up straighter and blurts out “What?”

It is Lucius who was speaking and he looks annoyed to be interrupted. “Glad you could finally join us Vulpus.”

“I have been occupied as of late. What were you saying about the courier Andrew Bjornson?”

The other men, including Caesar, give him disapproving looks.

“I was saying, that reports, reports that are your duty to look over, have come in about a secret army of securitrons that Mr. House has been hiding. Rumors are that The Mad God, Andy Bjornson is going to activate them and take over the Strip with the help of some allies.”

To say he is shocked is not the right wording. He is amazed. That sounds exactly like something she would do.

He lets out a puff of laughter that has all the other men staring at him again. He leans back in his chair and only says “Of course she would do that.”

“Those do not seem like the actions of someone that many parts of the Mojave claim is a hero.” Caesar is frowning at him.

“Well, she doesn’t consider herself a hero, the last time I saw her she said she thinks she’s a god and I tried to kill her.”

Lucius snorts. “And kissed her.”

Vuplus glowers. “A rumor made up by foolish legionaries, they have been dealt with.”

Caesar's commanding tone pulls everyone's attention. “I want this dealt with, New Vegas is a valuable asset. The money, weapons and slaves it would bring in would boost the legion ten fold. It needs to be ours not some random courier's.”

“My lord,” Vulpes has a plan forming in his mind, “perhaps we should let Andrew take over the strip then swoop in before she can truly establish power, let her do most of the fighting and make it an easy job for us.”

The great leader thinks for a moment. “An efficient proposition, perhaps some might say it is a cowards rout letting our enemy fight our enemy. However we need as many men as possible for our attack on Hoover Dam.” He looks straight at Vuples. “Confirm that these are the intentions of the courier then, begin plans immediately for an invasion.”

 

The rest of the day is filled with a flurry of motion. Vulpes is to leave the camp with a few of his most trusted men. They are to infiltrate the Strip and learn if the rumors are true. They are also to find any and all weakness in the Strip’s defenses and report them back.

They leave that night. Five men dressed in dark suits weapons hidden underneath. Vulpes also carries the book of poetry in the inside pocket of his jacket, over his heart.

The five men move like shadows across the sand. They do not stop until the first light of day can be seen, it is the middle of summer and it will be easier for them to camp during the day and move at night. 

When the sun rises, it rises red.

Vulpes takes his machete and swiftly kills all four of his men. Only one of them wakes from their rest putting up a small struggle. They thought they where safe. He feels a slight sorrow at their death, they were good and loyal men, but he is loyal to a new god.

He leaves them out in the desert, let the rad scorpions pick at their flesh and the sun bleach their bones, maybe a legion patrol will spot them and his betrayal will be discovered. 

He reaches the Strip in record time. The securitrons are more on edge and there are at least twice as many guarding the gate and wandering up and down the strip then last time. No one knows who he really is, and he still has his pass from the first visit, making it easy to get inside.

He waits. He spends time at the bars and listening through doors. Most civilians seem to pay the rumors no mind. The Omertas are being cautious, he notices most of them just seem to be waiting around to see if fighting happens. The NCR is there in force they would like Mr. House to keep the Strip, a change in power will be unsettling. The Kings however are overly excited, he is sure if this really is going to happen, they are on Andy’s side in the fight. He never hears any concrete proof, no one is sure where Andy has gone or if everything is just gossip.

The legion sends more spies. The first are surprised to see him, they must have thought he was dead. He kills the first three then let's a fourth go free. He wants Caesar to know if his betrayal. After that they send assassins. A change of cloths and a hair cut works to keep them off his trail for a bit. He manages to fight the first one off in an dark ally behind the casinos. The second in his hotel room. He feels confidence at their deaths. He knows he is on a holly mission. 

 

It takes a week for for Andy to return. She leads a vast army of hundreds of securitons, pictures of army men all displayed on their front screens. Intermixed with them are some humans, NCR and legion rebels, boomers, and ghouls.

Vulpus hears the fighting long before he sees it.

He’s leaving the Tops when he hears the gun fire start. Within seconds it is pure chaos. Strip goers run and scream everywhere. The Securitrons move out to Freeside were the fighting has begun.

He thinks of joining the front lines but stays instead facing the gate to the Strip. He takes out his black sunglasses and wolf hood, placing both on himself, in one hand he holds his machete. He is patient. It doesn't take long for the gate to be blown open. Shrapnel flies past his head but he does not flinch.

The world for him goes silent, through the smoke she emerges, her black coat flapping behind her in the dry wind. She is streaked in blood, and her hair, lose from her missing black hat, burns in the desert sun.

Vuples knows the fight is still all around him, but she is all that matters. He sees her as all she represents, good and evil, madness, power and love, both great and terrible. She is everything his life has been leading up to. She is perfection.

Her eyes are fixed upon him. With her gaze she peels back his skin and looks into his very soul, she sees his everything. She knows his past and his future, she knows every thought that has ever crossed through his mind. She knows the depth of his devotion and she returns it completely. Oh what it is to know one is loved by their god.

As if in slow motion she walks to him, bullets and lasers whip past, inches from her head. Each one lifting a few strands of the fire that surrounds her.

He kneels as she approaches, and he gazes up at her, the sun behind her head becomes a halo. She burns so bright he can hardly see. She smiles adoringly, crouches and takes his hand pulling him to his feet.

Her voice is soft, a whisper on the wind, had he not seen her lips move, he would have thought she spoke directly into his mind.

“ _I_ _f these pleasures may thee move,_ ”

“I will live with you and be your love.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Some just extra info for those interested:  
> Andy's looks and name are based off of my Fallout New Vegas character, but her personality and actions are not. I wanted her to be a chaotic neutral. Where as my character is diffidently lawful good.  
> originally this was going to just be a love story with my character and Vulpes. It was going to be an angst things where she doesn't agree with the Legion but is in love with him. but uhhh things got out of control.  
> I always think the idea of how easily most video game characters move through games would be entertaining in a story without the game aspect. That's how her character happens. Most video games are made to be power trips for the players, but what if it was a power trip for a real actual person living in that world. I think they would believe they are a god. I think it's also entertaining to have an overpowered almost mary sue character who's flaw is that they think they are so amazing they have a god complex.  
> I think that Vulpes would be asexual, growing up in the legion it seems to me that healthy sexual ideas are not a thing and based on his speech in Nipton he seemed very negative about prostitution. I just took that idea and ran away with it. I also identify as sex negitve asexual so it was kind of neat to have a character that feels the same as me.  
> Andy on the other hand is a neutral asexual. She's just not very interested but would.  
> As a side note E. E. Cummings is my favorite poet, but my favorite poem from him is not in this work. Also I have to thank a Hannibal fan fiction for introducing me to a Passionate Shepard to his Love.  
> List of poems in order of appearance.  
> Mistaken Identity - Romeo Della Valle  
> The Ocean Shore - Cookie  
> Voices - Walt Whitman  
> Don't Go Far Off not Even for A Day - Pablo Neruda  
> He Would not Stay for Me and Who can Wonder? - A. E. Houseman  
> A Passionate Shepard to His Love - Christopher Marlowe  
> anyone lived in a pretty how town - E. E. Cummings
> 
> So I edited it a bit, fixed some issues and added to the end. I made Vulpes even crazier, but I felt like the ending just needed more and to be drawn out some with more detail. The result is that he has gone off the deep end.


End file.
